


Cherish

by Poteto



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, PDA, just a healing fluff because Kise's tears are my tears, lots of PDA, post kaijou x seirin, quick mention of kagakuro, quick mention of one-sided kuromomo, spoilers if you haven't watched it yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-03-25 03:37:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3795253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poteto/pseuds/Poteto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He doesn't like to show and sure isn't the best at it, but Daiki Aomine always cared deeply about his friends... and about Kise, who somehow doesn't quite fit the friend category.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cherish

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is. The post Kaijou x Seirin match quick oneshot no one asked for and yet...

Daiki’s eyes have been following a particular player for a while now. He watches as Kise puts on a show and smiles at his opponents. _Daiki can’t believe that any of them are buying it. That plastic smile would never have fooled_ _him._ He sees Kise staggering and struggling, trying not to put too much weight on his injured foot. _Daiki hates it that the idiot overdid to this point and didn’t even win the game._ His stare is still glued on the blond when another player comes and loops an arm around Kise’s waist, ready to help him to walk while he can’t by himself, _just like he did not so long ago, when Kise played against Daiki and ended up unable even to stand on his own feet_.

The memory is ridiculously bitter and Daiki turns his gaze away as if not looking would erase the scene that once was burned behind his eyelids: the image of Kise pathetically sobbing on the floor, too physically hurt to walk away and too emotionally frustrated to hold back his tears. On that day, Daiki walked away as if he had nothing to do with Kise’s pain because _he had not, it was none of his business._ He ignored the guilt filling his stomach _since a winner has nothing to say to a loser_ and pretended he couldn’t hear the painful sound of his sobs and he forgot. He didn’t waste any time thinking of it.

_He did not._

The place is still full and noisy, but Daiki can swear that he can hear terrifyingly familiar sound – the sound of Kise’s pain – coming from the court. He turns around to walk away. _His relationship with Kise was never really friendship, after all._ And Kise has now friends who will support him through this, right? 

Then why does Daiki feel so wrong?

“Let’s go home, Satsuki.” He says.

“What? Wait, Dai-chan!”

He doesn’t wait. He keeps his slow, lazy pace on his way out, for he has no interest on anything else there. Tetsu is probably going to party with his friends now and Kise… No. Daiki has nothing to do with Kise.

“ _Dai-chaannnnn_!” Satsuki wails, grabbing his arm. “I said wait! I didn’t even get to talk to Tetsu-kun!”

“What do you want with him? He doesn’t want to see us now, he’s probably busy with Kagami.”

She flinches a little and Daiki regrets his words. He probably shouldn’t have mentioned the fact that Tetsu now prefers to be with Kagami rather than with the two of them, even though it’s probably true. However, Satsuki is not stupid. If even Daiki could notice the giant crush that Tetsu has on that idiot – although the idiot himself didn’t seem to have noticed yet – Satsuki must be very aware of it as well. The sooner she accepts it and moves on, the better.

“Fine.” She gives, pouting. “Let’s not bother Tetsu-kun. What about Ki-chan?”

This time, Daiki is the one who fidgets, but he doesn’t stop walking. He deliberately avoids Satsuki’s eyes.

“What about him?”

“What do you mean what about him? Let’s pick him up! He’s sad! You should comfort him! He’s my friend! And he’s your… well... We should go see him.”

Daiki grumbles something in response and finally stops. He wants to deny it, but there is no point. Satsuki knows – she knows everything about him – and Daiki… Daiki doesn’t quite know all about it, but he _does_ know something.

He knows that something about his feelings for Kise is different of what he has with the others. It’s not like the sincere friendship he shares with Satsuki (and Tetsu). It’s not like what he feels for his old teammates. It’s not like what he feels for his current teammates. He felt something weird when they were together, the urge to protect him but also the need to bully Kise a little and they bickered a lot. It’s different of anything Daiki has ever experienced.

Not only the feelings, but their interactions. There was a lot of touching. During their Teikou days, Kise would rest his head on his shoulder and Daiki wouldn’t mind. Daiki would get bored on the only class they shared on their last year and he would spent the whole lecture scribbling on Kise’s notebooks or playing with his hair or spinning his earring. He would borrow Kise’s lap during lunch break to sleep. He would mindlessly throw an arm around his shoulders and mess his hair when he scored points. There was a lot of casual physical contact that felt way too natural when it actually wasn’t and Daiki only really noticed when he stopped hanging out with Kise.

He missed it. But he thought it was in the past, just like the days when basketball was fun.

Nevertheless, isn't now different? He got defeated by Tetsu and Kagami. Suddenly, basketball was something he is able to enjoy again. He is unsure of victory for the first time in a long time. He has something to look forward for. He can go back to training because there were people out there that could mean a real challenge.

There was also a strange urge to go after Kise and he did after Kaijou's game against Fukuda Sogo. He just ditched Satsuki and went after Kise because he _needed_ to check out that leg of his. He saw it clearly when Haizaki – that fucker – stepped on his foot. Their conversation was short, because Kise’s stupid captain wanted him to go check his leg to make sure he would be ready to play against Seirin and at that Daiki couldn’t disagree, so he let him go. But not before Kise voiced his slight concern that Haizaki could go after revenge later. The nonchalant way he spoke about it showed that Kise was too carefree, but also that it was something that used to happen often.

Daiki always knew that Haizaki was a prick and that he held a grudge against Kise. _Anyway, he had nothing to do with that._

But that didn’t stop him from looking for Haizaki and freaking punching him for being such a douchebag.

No, he wasn’t friends with Kise. But that didn’t mean he would let some asshole do any harm to him.

“Dai-chan.” Satsuki tries again. “Let’s go see Ki-chan. You don’t need to settle everything up now, just… You want to see him. And he needs us. So please?”

Daiki groans. Without a word, he turns around and goes towards where he knows Kaijou team is. Satsuki lets out a surprised exclamation, but soon enough follows him with a rather satisfied little grin.  Daiki isn’t sure of what he is doing – actually, he has no clue - but he keeps walking in silence until they reach the closed door of Kaijou’s changing room. They can feel the gloomy atmosphere even from the outside, but that doesn’t stop them from leaning against the wall and waiting.

And they wait. They can hear the showers inside. They can hear muffled, indistinct words afterwards, as if someone is giving a speech… Probably their coach or their captain. They can hear many masculine voices in chorus saying something they can’t manage to figure and finally they see the doorknob twist.

The team that comes out of the room isn’t beaten. All of them know they did their best and they’re more fired up than anything. Daiki should have known. They’re Kise’s team, the Kaijou that got close to winning against him. Of course they’re this headstrong.

A surprised look blossoms on every Kaijou player when they see Daiki and Satsuki waiting there, but he doesn’t care nor give any of them a second look. The person he’s waiting for is the last to get out, being dragged out by his captain – at that, Daiki frowns a little – and he stares intensely at Kise’s pretty face until their eyes meet.

A flush of emotions storms behind the golden eyes: first surprise, which quickly becomes annoyance and then anger. Kise is not furious at Daiki, he notices, but he _is_ enraged that Daiki gets to see him like this. Then the rage becomes frustration and another realization hits Daiki: Kise really did a number on his body this time. If he’s still leaning on his senpai to walk, he probably won’t be able to play their next match against Shuutoku.

Daiki’s body moves on his own. His hands come out of his pockets, he opens his arms and he waits, as if it’s something that he’s done a million of times before – it isn’t.

Kise stares at him and presses his lips in a tight, bitter line for a second before letting go of that obnoxious guy and stumbling his way to Daiki.

 _Ah, this is it,_ Daiki thinks. A lot of things that were off seem to fall into place when Kise buries his face on Daiki’s shoulder, his arms thrown around Daiki’s waist. Without any hint of hesitation, he hugs Kise back, making sure that every inch of their bodies is touching. Kise’s hair is damp and he puts more weight on Daiki than he usually would if his both legs were okay, but Daiki can’t bring himself to feel uncomfortable. He’s relaxed, at ease, almost as if he were back to middle school, when everything was easy and happy.

He wishes Kise’s teammates left them alone, though. Funnily enough, is the guy that he dislikes so much, Kise’s captain, that makes him the favor of dismissing them:

“What are you doing, you bunch of idiots? Standing in the middle of the hallway like that! Keep walking, there’s nothing to see here. You guys have to rest because the next game will be tough!”

Mumbling, but finally shaken off of the shock of seeing their ace running to the arms of his so called rival, the Kaijou players start walking away awkwardly. _Good_. Daiki would have completely ignored them if their captain hadn’t stayed behind. Daiki glared at him from above Kise’s shoulder. Annoyingly, he glared back.

“Kise has to go to a doctor as soon as possible.” He announces. “He should probably call his parents to pick him up.”

Daiki hugs Kise tighter. _Call his parents_. Kise obviously didn’t tell his current teammates about how his parents were never home, even when their children needed them. But Daiki knew and so did Satsuki, so she intervened:

“We’re going to take him there.” She announces, indulging the guy with her prettiest smile. “You don’t need to worry, we’re taking full responsibility for Ki-chan and we’re making sure that he goes home safely.”

“I see.” The loser even blushes a little at Satsuki’s antic and Daiki rolls his eyes and ignores their conversation.

Instead, he pays more attention to the fact that Kise’s body seem to perfectly fits against his and to the faint scent of shampoo that comes from his humid locks.

“You said you weren’t watching the game today.” Kise mumbles, his voice breaking a little, barely audible against Daiki’s shoulder.

“I wasn’t.” Daiki absently caresses his back. “But in the end, I wanted to see it, so I came. Got something against it?”

“Not at all.” Kise chuckles softly. He’s obviously still upset, but the sound of his laughter is reassuring. “As expected from Aominecchi: we never know what to expect when it comes to you.”

Without thinking, Daiki plants a soft kiss where he can reach without tearing their hug apart: Kise’s temple. In response, the Kaijou’s ace only tightens his arms around Daiki. They fall on their old familiar routine where this kind of thing it’s not a big deal, as if they shared comforting hugs for their whole life. They didn’t. This is a first. But it feels so right that is certainly not a last. Daiki wonders where this – them – would lead. He’s fairly aware of the answer, but doesn’t think about it.

He almost feels a little annoyed when he sees Satsuki dismissing Kaijou’s captain and approaching them again.

“Ki-chan, Dai-chan. We have to get going.” Her smile is too cheerful, as if she couldn’t be happier. Happy for Daiki’s sake.

He will never admit it, but he sometimes – just sometimes – thinks he doesn’t deserve a friend as wonderful as her.

“Momocchi…” Kise sighs, lifting his head slightly and looking towards her. “I can’t believe you guys actually came to see me.”

“Of course we came. Ah, and Dai-chan was the one who asked for it.” She winks and Daiki glares at her. She giggles. “Anyway… Let’s get going. You really did it this time, Ki-chan, look at the state of your leg, geez!”

“Huh… Ugh! I won’t get to play against Midorimacchi.” Kise hides his face on the crook of Daiki’s neck. “I can’t believe it!”

“This is the last of your worries now, Ryouta Kise!” Satsuki impatiently wheezes. “Chop chop, boys, we’re going to the hospital. _And_ afterwards the three of us are going to my house and we’re watching Ki-chan’s favorite movies that, by chance, are my favorite movies as well.”

Daiki groans and Kise chuckles again and this time it sounds more sincere.

“If we watch all of them, we'll finish too late.” Kise remarks.

“No problem!” Satsuki beams “If it gets too late, you can sleep over. Not at my house, of course, my parents would never allow that, but! You can stay at Dai-chan’s! He lives just next door, so it’ll be fine!”

Daiki can feel Kise’s skin heating up and so does his own. They are blushing. Suddenly Daiki notices that they are still holding onto each other, and as pleasant and natural as it feels, you don’t usually go hugging your… whatever the hell Kise is to him. Satsuki is watching them with the same satisfied smile that she wears when the main couple of her favorite drama get together.

“Don’t go offering other people’s houses.” he grumbles.

“What, he can’t?” She’s still smiling too knowingly, too amused.

“ ‘f course he can, ‘s not big deal. C’mon, Kise.”

Kise (reluctantly, Daiki notices) lets go of him, but throws an arm around Daiki’s shoulder, letting him support half of his weight. Satsuki smiles at them once again and takes the lead, walking two or three steps in front of them.

“Aominecchi.” Kise starts softly and Daiki heart flutters a little. He _hates it_ when Kise calls him by his stupid nickname in that affectionate, silky voice. “Thank you for coming.”

“Hnf. Don’t get me wrong.” Daiki scowls. “I have to make sure that you won’t hurt yourself so we can play against each other next year.”

“Is that so?” Kise purrs. Daiki feels the old urge to hug him tightly but also to punch him in the gut. He seems to have forgotten how much work Kise is.

“Yeah. Also… let’s play an one on one once you get better, okay? Moreover… let’s play more often.”

A surprised look crosses Kise’s face for a second before a bright smiles takes place. He sure doesn’t look like someone who just lost a match and whose leg is probably burning in pain.

“Yes! I’m looking forward to it!”

Daiki may or may not smile back. But he feels a warm pleasant feeling on his stomach as he tugs Kise closer. He may not have Satsuki’s brains or “feminine intuition” or whatever the hell she calls it, but of one thing he’s sure: they’re growing. All of them. And this time, is for the best.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please, give a heads up if you read this far and found any mistake (it can happen, after all English is not my native language and I wrote this in, like, two hours) or just tell me what did you think! Any feedback is appreciated, it really means a lot to me.


End file.
